“FREEDOM” OF THE PRESS IN TURKEY: JOURNALIST IMPRISONMENTS DURING THE LAST DECADE, 2002-2012 By Duygu Kanver A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Journalism – Master of Arts 2013 ABSTRACT “FREEDOM” OF THE PRESS IN TURKEY: JOURNALIST IMPRISONMENTS DURING THE LAST DECADE, 2002-2012 By Duygu Kanver The noticeable increase in the number of imprisoned journalists in the past three years drew national and international attention to the problems of press freedom in Turkey. Arrests of distinguished reporters of Turkey’s mainstream media, along with the ongoing limitations on the freedom of Kurdish and socialist press, caused the country to be referred as “the world’s biggest prison for journalists” by the non-governmental press freedom organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Statements of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government authorities claiming that the imprisoned journalists are “not journalists but terrorists,” and their reluctance to amend the laws that cause hundreds of journalists to be jailed led to questioning the influence of politics on journalist imprisonments. This study explores the problems of press freedom with a focus on imprisoned journalists. Based upon in-depth interviews with journalists who were behind bars in the last decade, this study aims to answer the questions of what has changed in terms of freedom of expression in the last decade under AKP rule, for what obvious and underlying reasons the journalists are imprisoned, whether censorship has been a part of the problems of press freedom in the last decade, and how limitations on the freedom of expression affect the public. To my beloved family: my parents and my best friends, Hüriz and Erhan Kanver To all the journalists who did not hesitate to risk their lives or their freedom as they sought the truth iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My life partner, Erol Doğan Sümer, has been my biggest support since the moment I decided to pursue a graduate education. All those hard times when I had to memorize a thousand words for the GRE, stay up all night for a paper due the next day, rush to school for a morning class, or go back to work after an 8 pm class became the sweetest memories thanks to his presence. I am deeply grateful for his never-ending love and support. It is impossible to adequately express my love and gratitude for my parents Hüriz and Erhan Kanver. Not only during my Master’s education, but also in every stage of my life, they have been my superheroes who are always there to provide whatever I need, whenever I need them. I feel so lucky to have them, and so proud to be their daughter. Thanks to my academic advisor Dr. Lucinda Davenport’s guidance and encouragement, I always felt motivated to be successful in the Master’s program and to build my way into the doctoral program. The advice and insightful comments of my thesis advisor, Dr. Eric Freedman, and committee members Dr. Emine Evered, Dr. Manuel Chavez, and Dr. Michael Stamm helped me very much through the research and writing processes of this thesis. I would like to thank them all for their help and support. Without the contributions of journalists Ahmet Şık, Bedri Adanır, Nedim Şener, Sedat Şenoğlu, and Zuhal Tekiner, this study would not mean much. Thanks to their hands-on experience, honest and bold answers, not only did I get better-informed about the topic, but also I was inspired by their passion for their job. iv I would like to say a big “thank you” to my close friend Necati Mete who has always been there for me, and has supported me even at times when no one else did. And I will never forget his biggest favor to me: I would not be able to interview such distinguished journalists if it weren’t for his help. I would like to thank my wider family; especially my three beloved aunts Filiz Armağan, Füsun Kanver and Güliz Çöllüoğlu, and my dear uncle Ertan Kanver. I have felt their love and support from thousands of miles away, and grown more confident as I see how proud they are of my academic achievements. And finally, I would like to thank the Gezi Protesters all around Turkey for inspiring me as I write my thesis away from home, and giving me hope that one day we will live in a country where every citizen – regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, and political commitments – is free to speak, write, and express their opinion. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………….………...viii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………………ix KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………………….....x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………………………6 2.1 Dominant Ideologies in Turkey ...……………………………………………...…….…..6 2.1.1 Islamists ………………………………………………………...…………………..6 2.1.2 Nationalists………………………………………………………...…………….10 Kemalist Nationalism……………………………..……………………….…....10 Conservative Nationalism………………....……..….………………….…….....12 2.1.3 Ethnic and Religious Minorities…………………………………..…………….....14 2.1.4 Socialist – Revolutionary Left.………….….........………………………..............18 2.2 Turkish Media Organizations: Ownership and Political Affiliations…………………..20 2.3 Legal Concerns: Press Laws, Penal Codes and Constitutional Rights…........................23 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………………………28 3.1 Qualitative In-Depth Interviewing……………………………………………………...28 3.2 Sample Description……………………………………………………………………..30 CHAPTER IV PRESS FREEDOM AND IMPRISONED JOURNALISTS BY CASE………………………...32 4.1 The “Ergenekon” Case………………………………………………………………….32 4.1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….32 4.1.2 Two Journalists Who Became the Face of Turkey’s Press Freedom……………..34 “They Are Not Journalists, They Are Terrorists”……………………………...35 Censorship and Self-Censorship………………………………………………38 4.2 The Free Press Tradition: Cases against the Kurdish and Socialist Press………….…...43 4.2.1 The KCK/PKK Cases……………………………………………………...………43 4.2.2 MLKP, DHKP/C and similar cases……………………………………….……….45 vi CHAPTER V DISCUSSION………………………..…………………………………………………………..48 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION…………………………………………...……………………………………...52 6.1 A Brief Summary of Findings………………………………………………………...…52 6.2 Limitations……………………………………………………………………………….53 APPENDICES Appendix A – Interview Questions……………………………………………………………....55 Appendix B – Journalists in Prison………………………………………………………………56 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………..59 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Ethnic Identities in Turkey. Results of the 2006 Social Structure Survey results run by Konda Research and Consulting.…………………………………….……..……………...14 Table 2.2 Religious Beliefs in Turkey. Results of the 2006 Social Structure Survey results run by Konda Research and Consulting…………………….……………………………………..17 Table 2.3 List of popular Turkish TV channels and their owners………………..………………..20 Table 2.4 List of popular Turkish newspapers; their owners, and political perspectives.Newspapers marked with an asterisk are known to have a pro-AKP stance………...……...…………...22 Table B.1 List of journalists in prison as of February 2013……………………………………….56 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Protests in Istanbul on March 13, 2011. (Photo credit: Bianet)…...……………...……34 Figure 4.2 Protests in Ankara on March 19, 2011. (Photo Credit: Burhan Ozbilici, AP)…..……..34 Figure 4.3 Six different newspapers with the same headline, quoting the same sentence from Erdogan’s speech. Headlines read, “We are/I am all in for democratic demands….….39 Figure 5.1 A banner used in Gezi Park demonstrations that read “We do not resist under the patronage of any party, we are the People.” (Photographer unknown)…………......….50 Figure 5.2 A wall slogan in Istanbul, “We are the army of Mustafa Keser;” a sarcastic remark that picks on Kemalist militarism. (Photographer unknown)……………………………....50 Figure 5.3 Journalist Ahmet Sik shot by the police with a gas canister. (Photographer unknown)…………………………………………………………………………...…..51 Figure 5.4 Satellite uplink van of NTV attacked by the civilians. Slurs written on the van. (Photographer unknown)……........................................................................................51 ix KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AA Anadolu Agency (Anadolu Ajansi) AKP Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi) BDP Peace and Democracy Party (Baris ve Demokrasi Partisi) CHP Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) CIA Central Intelligence Agency CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists DHKP/C Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi/Cephesi) DIHA Dicle News Agency (Dicle Haber Ajansi) DP Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti) EU European Union FP Virtue Party (Fazilet Partisi) IPI International Press Institution IRB Institutional Review Board KCK Union of Communities in Kurdistan (Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan) MHP Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetci Hareket Partisi) MNP National Order Party (Milli Nizam Partisi) MLKP Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (Marksist-Leninist Komunist Party) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization x NGO Non-governmental organization OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe PDK Democrat Party of Kurdistan/North (Partiya Demokrata Kurdistane) PKK Kurdish Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan) RP Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) RSF Reporters without Borders TCK Turkish Penal Code (Turk Ceza Kanunu) THKP-C Turkish People’s Liberation Party-Front (Turkiye Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi) TIP Turkey Labor Party (Turkiye Isci Partisi) TGS Turkish Journalists’